“It was an enormous pleasure to fly the aircraft that it is going to be at the heart of the RMAF´s transport capabilities in future. It is a real ‘pilot´s aircraft’ and I very much look forward to seeing it enter service so that we can apply its capabilities on a wide variety of missions,” said Lieutenant General Datuk Roslan.

The Malaysian Government has ordered four of the A400M. It is expected to take delivery of its first A400M in 2015.

A total of 174 aircraft have so far been ordered by Belgium France, Germany, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

About A400MThe A400M is an all-new military airlifter designed to meet the needs of the world's Armed Forces in the 21st Century. Thanks to its most advanced technologies, it is able to fly higher, faster and further, while retaining high manoeuvrability, low speed, and short, soft and rough airfield capabilities. It combines both tactical and strategic/logistic missions.

With its cargo hold specifically designed to carry the outsize equipment needed today for both military and humanitarian disaster relief missions, it can bring this material quickly and directly to where it is most needed. Conceived to be highly reliable, dependable, and with a great survivability, the multipurpose A400M can do more with less, implying smaller fleets and less investment from the operator. The A400M is the most cost efficient and versatile airlifter ever conceived and absolutely unique in its capabilities.

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - October 3, 2012: The Rafale is the first European combat aircraft in service benefit from technology AESA ( Active Electronically Scanned Array ) has been the subject of studies and demonstrations earlier and reflects the culmination of over 10 years R & D efforts on active antennas. It significantly improves its detection range. Registered C137, and for the Air Force, he will join in the coming days airbase Mont-de-Marsan.The development of AESA radar RBE2 was decided in the context of a program to improve sensor Rafale, which also includes a missile launch detector and an improved front sector optronics new generation, two systems also equipping the Rafale C137.The Rafale is the first device omnirole hunting, that is to say, it may, during the same flight and substantially simultaneously, providing different types of missions, such as ground attack and air defense . Totally versatile, the Rafale provides the full range of tasks assigned to a fighter: superiority and air defense, land attack and maritime, close fire support of ground troops, reconnaissance, nuclear strike. It is also the first aircraft designed from the outset to operate both from a land base since an aircraft carrier. It is implemented by the Air Force and Navy. To date, 180 series aircraft have been ordered by the DGA and delivered 111 aircraft in its three versions: 36 cars embedded "M" for the Navy, 38 seater "B" and 37 cars "C" for the army of air. The Rafale has been deployed in Afghanistan and Libya.The main industrial ensuring the delivery of Rafale are Dassault Aviation, Thales, Safran and MBDA.Press ContactsDGA / COMGuy BertrandTel. : 06 84 96 73 54Email: bertrand.guy @ dga.defense.gouv.fr

"We're determined to speed up and expand our helicopter plans with the immediate decision to buy 70 helicopters for the Polish army," the PAP news agency quoted Tusk as saying.Delivery of the first choppers is expected by 2014, he said, describing the cost of the project as "gigantic", but declining to name a figure.In March, Warsaw announced a tender to buy 26 multipurpose helicopters for its army worth an estimated 1.5-3.0 billion zlotys (360-720 million euros, $480-960 million).The move is seen as a significant step in the Polish army's drive to replace 250 Soviet-era helicopters in the years to come.A former communist state of 38.2 million, among the first to join NATO in 1999 and member of the European Union since 2004, Poland has two helicopter plants, run by British-Italian AgustaWestland and the US Sikorsky Aircraft respectively.Polish media have tipped them as the odds-on favourites in the tender.AgustaWestland in 2010 bought Polish helicopter producer PZL Swidnik, which makes the Sokol helicopters used in rescue operations, by firefighters and for transport, and above all by the army.It sells its helicopters in Poland, the Czech Republic and South Korea.AgustaWestland plans to start producing AW 109, AW 119 and AW 139 helicopters in Swidnik in southern Poland, alongside parts for the AW 101 model.Sikorsky has started to produce a new version of the Black Hawk S70i for export in the PZL Mielec plant, also in southern PolandTusk was on Wednesday visiting a military exercise range in Drawsko, northwest Poland, where Polish forces are currently staging their largest annual military exercise, code-named Anakonda 12.He also announced that Poland's failed attempt to build its first naval corvette-type vessel -- a decade-old project dubbed Gawron and mired in allegations of high-level corruption -- will be salvaged by completing the craft as a patrol boat.

Helicopters used today by the Polish Air Force:

The first two Bell 412HP helicopters were delivered to Poland in 1991 during the preparations for the pilgrimage of the Pope ? John Paul II. At the time they were both rented from the United States. The first Polish Bell 412HP was delivered in July 1993 and was designated with the side nr 02. Today it remains in service at the 36th Special Air Transport Regiment, Warsaw-Okecie.

The Bell 412 HP is a multi-role lightweight helicopter capable of carrying up to 7 passengers.

The first Mi-2 (W-2) prototype was show to the public in 1961 in the USSR. After signing an agreement with Poland, the Russians moved part of their helicopter production plants to Swidnik. In 1965 the Mi-2 conducted its first test flight. Mass production of the Russian Mi-2 (W-2) began during summer 1966.

Poland acquired its first military version of the Mi-2 in December, 1966. Mass production began in 1967 with various version being released: transport, farming, civilian, training, rescue and combat. Altogether, over 5500 Mi-2 helicopters have been produced at the helicopter factories. 280 of them were directed to Polish military units and the majority ? exported to the USSR.

The Mi-8 and Mi-17 helicopters were designed and constructed in a crude but durable manner. Even today, they still remain as the most common and reliable medium range transport helicopters used worldwide. The first Mi-8 (W-8) test flight was conducted in June 1961. The prototype used a single AL-24W engine and a four-bladed rotor. During the next two years a double-engine prototype was introduced. It was equipped with two TW2-117 engines and a five-bladed rotor. Mass production of the helicopter began at the Kazan aircraft factory in October 1965. In 1970 a second production facility in Ulan-Ude began constructing the Mi-8 (W-8). Since then, over 10,000 Mi-8 helicopters have been built.At first, the Mi-8T version served as a transport platform for soldiers and equipment. In 1968 a combat version ? the MI-8TW ? optimized for combat-strike mission was constructed. It featured two posts fitted on either side of the aircraft?s body with four UB16-57UD Cal. 57 mm rocket launcher pylons. This version was later equipped with a stronger, TW3-117 engine and named as the Mi-8MT. Serial production of this model began in 1975.

The Polish Army acquired its first Mi-8 transport helicopters in 1968. During their first years of service, the helicopters were used mainly for transport operations. Some of them were later used at construction sites as ?flying cranes?. Currently, over thirty Mi-8 helicopters remain in service in the Polish Air Force.

The first two prototypes of the W-3 helicopter were built at the PZL Swidnik aircraft construction plant in 1979. These models were however prepared only for ground tests. The first flight tests were conducted in 1982 on a third prototype designated SP-PSB. After completing the tests and acquiring permission from the USSR, serial production of the W-3 began.

The Polish Navy was the first branch of the Polish Armed Forces to acquire two of the W-3 transport helicopters. In 1993, more W-3 helicopters were purchased for the Polish Air and Air Defence Forces. A few years ago the W-3 achieved the ?A? category of the American certificate FAR-29 that allows aircraft to conduct flights over populated areas. The aircraft?s type number was then changed to W-3WA.

The PZL SW-4 is a lightweight training helicopter purchased especially for the Polish Air Force Academy in Deblin. It is capable of carrying 5 people ? 1 pilot and 4 passengers and an additional payload of 150 kilograms. The military version of the SW-4 is adapted for installation of night-vision optics as well as a small-caliber machinegun. A total of 20 SW-4 helicopters have been purchased for the Polish Air Force Academy but the majority is still being implemented to active service.

TORONTO - Premier Dalton McGuinty appealed directly to his opposition rivals Tuesday, asking Tim Hudak and Andrea Horwath to release their members from party discipline for a vote on Energy Minister Chris Bentley's contempt of parliament case.

Quebec Court of Appeal Justice Richard R. Wagner has been nominated to the Supreme Court. “Justice Wagner's candidacy comes following a rigorous and comprehensive evaluation process of his merit and commitment to legal excellence,” said Prime Minister ...

MONTREAL, QUE. (NEWS1130) - Once again a Trudeau will be running for leader of the federal Liberals. MP Justin Trudeau, the 40-year-old son of former Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, is holding a rally at 4 pm (PST) in his Montreal Papineau ...

A police helicopter, military emergency equipment and CN Rail employees joined more than 50 firefighters in Winnipeg overnight to help battle a massive chemical warehouse fire that sent fireballs and plumes of thick, black smoke into the sky.

OTTAWA - The federal government is taking away some parking perks from top government bureaucrats and top political staffers. But ministers won't have to worry about finding a place to park at work because they'll still have their taxpayer-funded limos ...

The search the remains of Tanya Nepinak at Winnipeg's Brady Road landfill has been put off once again. High winds have created safety concerns for the searchers, forcing a postponement until weather conditions improve, police announced on Tuesday.

Family members of the two women killed in the Algo Centre Mall collapse last summer in Elliot Lake, Ont., have launched a lawsuit against the province, city, mall owner and the engineering firm that deemed the building safe.

Toronto police say they'll be making a major announcement today regarding the slaying of a local rap artist. Anthony Spencer, 23, was recording at a studio in east-end Toronto when he was shot early on the morning of Jan. 21.